Speed Freak by Fleur Beale

Author:Fleur Beale [Fleur Beale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781775534716
Publisher: Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

IT WAS HOSING down when we left to return to our units. ‘Let’s hope it clears up by the morning,’ Tama said.

‘Either that, or it rains all day,’ I said. ‘None of this half-arsed, can’t make up its mind stuff.’

In the morning it seemed I’d got my wish. The sky was grey but no rain was dripping out of it. Felix stared out the window, his whole body tense with worry.

‘Archie, if it rains will you have to drive on slicks again?’

‘We just have to wait till each race,’ I said. ‘We’ll be on wets if it’s hosing down.’

Dad put breakfast on the table. ‘Get this inside you, Felix. We’re going to need your help today.’

He didn’t argue, although it was easy to see he was busting to get out to the track.

We got there in plenty of time, half an hour before the grandparents arrived. Grandad shook hands with Felix. Gran hugged him.

‘How’s the young bugger going?’ Grandad asked Dad.

‘It’s okay, Felix,’ I said. ‘He means me. On the track.’

I left the four of them in the tent and went outside. I chose a spot by myself where I could see the track. I wasn’t the only one standing alone, drawing my mind into a point of focus where all there was in the world was the track, the kart and the skill needed to drive to the max. I was confident we had the set-up as near-perfect as possible.

The loudspeaker clattered out a call for our tuning run. As usual, I chose a space halfway down the field. I wanted to use the run to get in some passing practice on this track. Silver was up the front, with Josh beside her. Craig wouldn’t be happy about that.

I took the first three laps slowly, warming up the tyres and scuffing them in. Then I set to work picking off the karts ahead of me. Jack was no problem — but it’s easy to get past a kart that’s off on the grass.

I came up behind Craig and Silver after another lap but didn’t close up on them immediately. Something weird was going on and I didn’t want to get pulled in when it blew.

Round we went through the hairpin. Craig could have got past easily. What the hell was he playing at? He kept on following her into the corners even though she braked too early and accelerated too soon. Her kart just about leapt off the track, and still he stayed tucked in behind her.

He didn’t pass her on the straight to the sweeper either. There had to be something wrong with his engine.

I decided to pass the pair of them on the long straight. I closed in as we came to the right-hander, then went wider than I normally would, just to be on the safe side. Sweet.

I left them behind and settled in to take the five still ahead of me. One after the other, I snuck past — had a tussle with Lewis before I made it, and Ollie wasn’t too easy either.

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